Cotton chopper and cultivator.



PATENTBD MAY 15; 1906. G. H. MUGUIRE.

GOTTGN CHOPPER AND GULTIVATOR. APPLIGATION IEILBD- DEC. 26, 1905 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

- F" minim 6 [/VVENTORV W I M1 3 u A TTORNEYS PATENTED MAY 15, 1906.

G. H. MUGUIRE. COTTON CHOPPER AND OULTIVATOR APPLIOAT IOH FILED D30. 26, 1905 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

[NVEN TOR,

A TTORNE Y5 .WITNESSES:

"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. GEORGE MCGUIRE, OF DAHLONEGA, GEORGIA.

COTTON CHOPPER AND CULTIVATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 15, 1906.

Application filed December 26,1905. Serial No. 293,354.

T at whom it may] concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. MCGUIRE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dahlonega, in the county of Lumpkin and State of Georgia, have invented a new and useful Cotton Chopper and Cultivator, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cotton choppers and cultivators; and it has for its objects to simplify and improve the construction and operation of this class of machines.

With these and other ends in view, which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations, and modifications within the scope of the invention 'may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a combined cotton chopper and cultivator constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view, enlarged, of the rotary chopping member. Fig. 5 is a perspective detail view, enlarged, showing the upper ends of the wings constituting the supporting members or guides of the chopper and the rear end of the bar or beam supporting the same. Fig. 6 is a sectional detail view showing the supporting wings or guides in operative relation with a cotton bed or ridge. Fig. 7 is a perspective detail view showing the means for connecting the guide-supporting bar with the frame of the machine and showing also the universal joint of the rotary chopper-shaft. Fig. 8 is a detail view illustrating a rotary rake member which may be substituted for the rotary chopping member. 9 is a detail plan view illustrating a modification.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters of reference.

The frame 1 of the improved machine may be constructed of wood, metal, or other suit able material; but it has been illustrated as consisting of a metallic casting approxistructure, serve additional purposes, which will presently be made apparent.

The frame 1 is provided with bearings for a shaft or axle 5, having carrying-wheels 6 6.

The axle 5 is slidable, as well as rotatable, in its bearings, and it has been shown as carrying a bevel-gear 7, the hub of which is provided with an annular groove 8, engaged by a "shipping-lever 9, which is fulcrumed upon the front part of the frame and which has a rearwardly-extending handle 10, whereby it may be conveniently manipulated. Supported for rotation in the rear part of the frame is a short longitudinal shaft 11, carrying at its forward end a pinion 12, that meshes with the bevel-gear 7. It will be seen that by manipulating the shipping-lever the relative positions of the frame and the axle may be changed, thus changing the dis tance between the aXis of the shaft 11 and the bevel-toothed face of the gear-wheel 7, and thus enabling pinions of various sizes to be mounted upon the shaft 11 for engagement with the gear-wheel 7, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, where pinions of different sizes have been shown,

respectively, in full and in broken lines. The

shipping-lever 9, which is to be made of re placed in engagement with any one of a plurality of notches 13 in the rib or flange 3 upon the upper side of the frame, and said lever and its related parts may be thereby securely locked in any of the various positions to which said lever and parts may be adjusted. Simple securing means, such as a cotterpin 14, is used for securing the pinion upon the forward end of the shaft 11, which latter is preferably made of non-circular shape for the reception of the pinion.

The rear part of the frame 1 is provided on its under side with a lug 15, upon which is pivoted a clip 16, to which is secured a rearwardly-extending beam or bar 17. The latter is provided at its rear end with a downturned bracket 18, upon which are pivoted a pair of overlapping plates 19, providedwith I downward-extending divergent arms 20, provided at their lower ends with wings 21, forming guides or supporting members, the particular use of which will be presently made apparent. The overlapping plates 19 are provided with slots 22 for the reception of a bolt or tightening member 23, which also extends through a perforation in the bracket 18 and which is provided with anut 24, by tightening which the plates 19, with the arms 20 and wings 21, may be secured at various adjustments, the wings being thus capable of being spaced and supported at various distances apart. These wings in the operation of the machine ride upon opposite sides of the cotton bed or ridge, as will be best seen by reference to Fig. 6 of the drawings, and it will be readily seen that by spacing the said wings at various distances apart the carrying bar or beam 17 may be supported with its free end at various elevations above the crest of the ridge.

Connected, by means ofauniversal joint or coupling 25, with the rear end of the shaft 11 z 5 is the chopper-carrying shaft 26, for which a bearin 27 is provided upon the upper side of the eam or bar 17 near the rear end of the latter. The shaft 26 carries at its rear extremity an annular clutch member 28, having 30 clutch-teeth 29.'

30 designates a hub having a recess or cavity 31 and provided at its edge with clutchteeth 32, adapted to engage the clutch-teeth 29 of the member 28. Extending through 3 5 the rear extremity of the hub 30 isa hook-bolt 33, having a tightening-nut 34.

35 designates a coiled spring one end of which is connected with the rear end of the shaft 26, the other end of said spring being connected with the hook-bolt 33, said spring serving to keep the hub 30 in operative ena ement with the clutch member 28. The b0 t 33 serves not only to assemble the parts, but also to regulate the tension of the spring by tightening or loosening the nut 34. The hub 30 is provided with radially-extending spokes, as 36, said spokes serving to support one or more blades or cutters 37, the latter being secured upon the spokes by means of nuts 38 and 39, bearing, respectively, against the inner and the outer sides of said blades. The latter have been shown as provided with beveled cutting edges 40; but said blades and their cutting edges may be of any suitable ap- 5 5 proved construction, and it is to be distinctly understood that a single blade or any desired number of blades may be employed and that said blades may be arranged in any desired relation within the scope of the invention.

Beams 41 are provided, having upturned front ends 42, that extend through suitable apertures in the sides of the frame and are provided with nuts 43, whereby they are secured in position, said beams being placed in engagement with notches 44 formed in the rib or flange 4 upon the under side of the frame. The flange 4 is provided with a plurality of notches, as 44, for each of the beams 41, so that the latter may be adjusted upon the pivots formed by their upturned front ends, the beams being possessed of suflicient inherent resiliency to retain them in operative position, displacement being, moreover, prevented by the fact that the working strain upon the beams is in an upward direction, which tends to hold the beams securely in the notches in which they have been adjusted. The beams 41 are provided at their rear ends with stand ards 45, upon which are mounted clips 46, having bearings 47 for the spindles or axes 48 of disks 49, which latter are of the customary concavo-convex type. These disks, as is obvious, may be readily reversed, so as to throw the dirt either toward or from the ridge, and they may be set or adjusted at various angles. It is also evident that the disks maybe spaced at various distances apart by proper adjustment of the beams 41 in the notches 44.

Handles 50', whereby the machine may be uided, are secured to the two sides of the frame, and said handles are spaced and connected by means of a rung 51. supports a guide member 52 (best seen in Fig. 3 of the drawings) for a flexible element 53, one end of which is connected with one of the arms 20 at the rear end of the bar or beam 17, the other end of said flexible element being connected with one of the handles, said flexi- The latter ble element constituting lifting means whereby the free end of the bar 17 and relatedparts maybe elevated and sustained in a raised position, as when the machine is to be transported from one field to another.

At the front end of the frame 1 is securely mounted a draft-yoke 54, having a centrallydisposed eye 55 and oppositely-extending lateral loops 56, engaged by a link 57, which latter may be conveniently shifted from one to the other of the loops 56, either the eye 55 or the link 57 being used for the attachment of draft.

The operation of this machine and its advantages will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto annexed. The rotary chopping member is carried by the beam or bar 17 in the bearing 27, which as it rises and falls, due to irregularities in the ground, slidingly engages the chopper-carrying shaft, which is supported for rotation in said bearing. The free end of the bar 17 is supported by the inclined divergent wings or guide members 21, which slide upon the inclined sides of the bed or ridge and which may be laterally adjusted, so as to engage the ridge at various elevations, thus regulating the depth to which the rotary chopper shall be permitted to cut. The rotary chopper will operate to remove the surplus plants from the row, leaving plants standing at intervals, as

IIC

cheese is well understood. If stones, stumps, or other obstructions should. be encountered by the rotary chopping member, the spring which serves to connect the hub with the clutch member 28 will yield, thus permitting the chopping member to pass over such obstructions without injury, as will be seen by reference to the dotted lines inFig. 3 of the drawings, the spring serving to restore the parts to working position as soon as the obstruction has been passed. The rotary disk cultivators will at the same timeserve to exterminate weeds and grass and to move the rubbish away from the young plants, or by reversing the position of the disks the earth may be removed in the direction of the plants, as will be readily understood. The speed of the rotary chopping element will be regulated by the size of the pinion 12 that is used in connection with the gear-wheel 7 a plurality of pinions of various sizes being preferably supplied with the machine. It is also obvious that the shipping-lever 9 may be utilized to throw the gear-wheel 7 out of mesh with the pinion 12, thus stopping the rotation of the shaft 11 and of the parts operated thereby.

In Fig. 10 of the drawings has been illustrated a slight modification under which the shaft or axle 5 is connected revolubly, but not slidably, with the frame 1. In this case the bevel-gear, here designated 7 is mounted slidably upon a non-circular portion of the axle, as indicated at 5. The operation of this modification is obvious.

Sometimes it may be desired to substitute for the rotary chopping element hereinbefore described a rotary rake member which has been illustrated in Fig. 9 of the drawings and which comprises a hub 60, having an annular series of clutch-teeth 61 and adapted to be con nected with the clutch member 28 in precisely the same manner as the hub 30 of the rotary clutch member. The hub is provided with a plurality of radially-extending resilient teeth 62, having curved extremities 63, adapted to engage the crest of the ridge. This rake is designed for breaking the crust from the top of the ground as the cotton comes up and also after the cotton is chopped. It may then be used, in connection with the disks, for moving dirt in the direction of the plants.

This improved machine, while simple in construction and inexpensive, is light of draft and thoroughly eflicient for the purposes for which it is designed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1.. In a cotton-chopper, a hingedly-supported beam, divergent ground-engaging supportlng means connected wlth said beam,

and a rotary chopping member carried by the latter.

2. In a cotton-chopper, a hinged beam, and divergent ground-engaging supporting means connected adjustably therewith.

3. In a cotton-chopper, a hinged beam, plates pivotally connected therewith and having. downwardly-extending divergent wingcarrying arms, and means for securing the plates at various adjustments.

4. A hinged beam, overlapping plates pivotally connected therewith and having downwardly-divergent wing-carrying arms, and means for securlng the plates at various adustments.

5. A beam having a downturned bracket,

plates having downwardly-divergent wingcarrying arms, and means adjustably securing the plates upon the downturned. bracket.

6. A beam having a bracket, plates pivoted upon the beam and having ground-engaging supporting means, and means for securing the plates at various adjustments.

7. A beam having a bracket, overlapping plates pivoted upon said bracket and having downwardly divergent ground engaging Wings and provided with registering slots, and tightening means extending through said slots and through the bracket.

8. A chopper-supporting beam having a bracket, and members. pivoted adjustably upon the bracket and having terminal ground-engaging wings.

9. A shaft supported for rotation and having a clutch member, a hub having clutch engaging teeth, a spring connecting the hub with the clutch member, and blade-carrying spokes radiating from the hub.

10. A shaft supported for rotation, a clutch member upon said shaft, a hub having clutch-engaging teeth, a bolt extending through the hub and connected adjustably therewith, a spring connecting said bolt with the clutch-carrying shaft, and earth-engaging members connected with and supported by the hub.

11. A shaft supported for rotation, a hub connected with the shaft by flexible and resilient connecting means, spokes extending from the hub, and chopping-blades connect ed. adjustably with the spokes.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

" GEO. I-I. MoGUIRE.

Witnesses:

G. D. Barron, H. D. GUnLnY. 

